As we advance into a new month, it’s a good time to review, refocus and make a fresh start.

With this time of year being holiday season, it can be a struggle to to keep ourselves on track and accountable. It’s all too easy to say “just one little ‘treat’ won’t hurt” and then for that to become one more and one more and so on. I know it’s a slippery slope I’ve been down recently!

Yes, life is for living and shouldn’t be all about what we’re eating, so if you go off piste one day, try to do so mindfully and make adjustments as soon as you can, to off-set the impact.

Hope lots of you will be here, supporting each other though August, I’ll be looking forward to reading about your progress.

Very wise words SunnyB & I will be going off piste over the weekend celebrating my Golden Wedding Anniversary but will get back on track on my return.
Keep on going everyone we can do this 👍🤞🍀🍀through August supporting each other 😀
Good luck everyone
Margaretxx

Have a wonderful celebratory weekend, Margaret, such a special event needs marking properly, so enjoy it with whatever treats take your fancy. You can tighten things up again on your return and the impact will likely be minimal.

Congratulations to you both on your Golden Wedding, hope there’ll be lots more anniversaries for you two to celebrate. 🥂🍾

Congratulations Margaret.🎉🍾🥂 Enjoy!

Thanks Sunny for the new thread. So glad tomorrow is a new month and a new start. I seem to have gone off the boil at the moment so great chance to wipe the slate clean and start over tomorrow!

I’m with you, V, looking forward to a refocus. Definitely need to make August count.

Hi
My names Lucia and I am a sugar addict. Both the hidden and the pure form.
I dedicate August to reducing sugar/carbs drastically.
My aim is to see 14th and 31st here
I want to eat between 2pm and 6pm. To learn to count all my carbs. Move more. And finally keeping stress down and happiness cranked to its highest setting
See you all tomorrow
Love Lucia
Xx

Welcome Lucia, recognising your issues is huge and formulating a way forward a very positive step. You have already shown you can follow this way of eating successfully and I see no reason why you won’t hit your targets of 14th and 31st in August.

You have quite a list of other goals and now you have the tools, I’m sure they are achievable. Don’t forget though, that we are human and all stumble from time to time. If this should happen to you, it’s important not to waste time and energy on beating yourself up. Far better to acknowledge the error, forgive yourself and get right back on track.

Here’s to every success in August.

Thank you Verano😀
I test weighed this morning & have stayed the same weight so will eat less today before I record my weight tomorrow.
Good luck Lucia & very well done successfully getting to August but don’t be too hard on yourself just take it day by day. We all have our ups & downs but also need to be kind to ourselves!
Margaret xx

Thanks for the new thread! I am walking confidently into August with you all. Still getting the hang of the diet and don’t know whether it has brought my blood sugars down, but I certainly feel better for losing weight! I aim to walk confidently THROUGH August and into September!
xx

I have weighed a day early & have only lost 0.5 lbs & am flying to Gibraltar this afternoon for our Golden Wedding Anniversary celebration long weekend. My walking plies are packed & I hope I will be able to cope with the hilly walking there🚶🏻‍♀️🤞🤞
Margaret xx

I have now come to the end of my second week of ‘30 plants a week’. There are lots of what I would regard as non-plant foods like coffee, chocolate and herbs and spices which are a bit difficult to count. Anyway, the principal is that you only count each item once despite the number of times you have that item in a week. So week one I managed 25. Now almost at the end of week 2 I’ve only made 23. I would never have thought it would be so difficult. So I will give it another week and see if I can actually make 30. I think it may be easier when eating vegetables instead of salad night after night but we’ll see!
Would love to know if anybody else has tried this?

Not in the zone at the moment but I’m sure that’s only temporary. I hope that the start of August has been a ‘fresh start’ or ‘ a continuation on the right path ‘ for everyone.

Have a good weekend and may the sun shine bright!

Hi all, thanks for setting up the thread SunnyB.

I have survived my week of family visiting but barely. They have gone back today and I gave a big cheer at the airport rather than my usual tears. Not going into detail but surfice to say my new SIL is a total kno-, know it all and enjoys lecturing me and my husband as if we are like his children. Also having 3 fully grown children and one 11 year old and 2 adults is not as easy as it used to be having my own 2 little boys. I have cooked and catered for all tastes, tried to make my daughter her vegan food and tried to eat it with her. I will not becoming a vegan, I never want to see another bean or lentil.

Anyway, I am sure I am totally bloated by the high (good) carb foods but just going to chill out for the weekend and appreciate having my house and bathroom back. I will worry about what I weigh and starting my diet on Monday.

To top it off both my husband and I have been coughing our lungs up and full of cold while still ferrying them here there and everywhere. Going to have a relaxing glass of wine – which by the way I have not been doing as we have been so ill.

Oh and did I mention the 40 degree heat – phew.

See you all on Monday.

S-g …..breathe in …..breathe out! Keep going with the breathing and you will be fine in a day or so!
Take care !

Very quick drop in, to say sorry that your family time has been so trying, SG. Try to relax and recoup over the weekend and don’t worry about counting anything until Monday. Sounds like you need total downtime and zero stess. Feel better soon.

Already lost half a kilo and they only left yesterday afternoon. Still not giving official weight gain until Monday as I hope most of it will be gone by then.

Okay, official weigh-in today and I have gained 3lbs. That will soon be gone.

I have had a bit of an epithany. Watching a woman called Mel Robbins in a free 2 part inspirational/motivational training video. I have come to realise that after dropping around 9kgs on this diet I have messed around losing the same 2kgs over and over as I have been happy with 9kgs. However, to get to my ideal weight (not my doctors) I need to lose another 9kgs. I lose 2, go on holiday, gain 2, lose 2 then its Christmas (or whatever) and I gain 2 and so it goes, on and on and on. But no more.

I have the excuse that I am using insulin and every 10 units cause half a pound of weight because the insulin helps the body to store the glucose as fat. Stupid really when we want to get rid of the glucose, not store it in our fat cells. I am now using 20 units of insulin daily so I am managing to fight off 1lb of weight gain every day and that is really hard to do. However, I have done it before so I can do it again. Also, as I lose more weight I am able to lower the insulin so loss should get easier but still difficult.

So after watching Mel Robbins I have set myself a project. No more messing around. In 6 months I want to have lost 9kgs. Thats around 20lbs in 26 weeks is just over 3lbs a month and it perfectly doable. When you break it down like that it is so stupid that I have not been able to manage it before.

Sorry that was a bit longwinded but I have re-set my mindset. Going to watch another podcast by Mel.

S-g as you say the 3lb will soon be gone. You have just described me!!! Down a bit, up the same bit, down the same bit , up a bit …. holiday, Christmas … then back down the same bit! Result …. stalemate! Please point me in the right direction ….. which podcast please? As you say your ‘project’ is perfectly ‘doable’. Good luck! You CAN and WILL do it .

Seems like you have solidly refocused, SG. Your determination is admirable and I’m sure you’ll achieve your goal.
Confess I have been a bit off-piste this passed weekend, so I’m not expecting to see a drop at weigh-in tomorrow, although I’m fasting today, so any impact from the weekend will hopefully be largely offset 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻. Will report in tomorrow.

Hi V, her name is Mel Robbins and she does video podcasts on YouTube and audio on Spotify. I found the 2 part training by watching another podcaster called the CEO and he recommended her.

Thanks s-g. Had a look today. Very interesting!

Respect, Sunshine girl. I don’t know if you realise how rare you are — you are able to reason in and out of situations — you can take in information (in this case from Mel Robbins) and actually ACT on it. This ability allows you to improve your circumstances and become better, more informed and acting to secure your best future — literally saving your life.
I have found this Dr. Michael Mosely website to be both incredibly supportive and also, at the same time, incredibly infuriating because so many people posting just do the same (dumb) things over and over and over — they KNOW simple carbohydrates are not healthy, they KNOW they should get rid of cakes, cookies, ice cream, rice, flour etc etc… but they continue to buy it, eat it and suffer the consequences of it — then they post that they have gained weight and feel awful, their blood sugars are up again in the diabetic range and they are very sorry and will do “better”, but “better” just never comes.
I stopped posting about weight and started posting about the benefits of a low-carb diet on the BRAIN so that I might be able to short-circuit that awful endless circle of bad eating/bad feeling/bad outcome. I thought maybe if people realised how awful a high-carb diet was for the brain they might rethink what they are doing.
I don’t know if that has helped at all, but I hope that some people have realised how important this is to avoid dementia and Alzheimers — to me personally, there is no point in worrying about the fat on my body if I don’t prioritise my brain. Without a functioning brain we are basically only vegetables.
So again, respect. You are actually blessed with the ability to use logic and apply it to your situation. You have unthinkable power to affect the outcome and to help others as well. You take it for granted but it is sacred and rare.
Julia

I am back from my Golden Wedding Anniversary celebration in Gibraltar which was very enjoyable & educational learning more about the complex history there. We returned yesterday & I have gained some weight & my husband a couple of pounds but we are now going to return to our usual low carb lifestyle after drinking more wine than usual & being served surprisingly large portions of protein as main meals in The Rock Hotel restaurant that we did add more side dishes of vegetables to. We walked quite a lot & used the local buses & although it was very humid & hot avoided getting sunburnt.
We are off to play short mat bowls this morning so back to our usual routine & I have been reading all your posts taking on board your experiences & advice.
Margaret xx

I completely identify with everything Julia has said. I have stopped contributing as its depressing. Sunshinegirl is a leading light for dealing with a medical problem that she doesn’t allow it to affect her life but gets on with it. I have blood cancer and I read SG’s posts for positives and she never fails me.

Hi there, when I posted my last comments about starting a project and doing things right, getting rid of my diabetes and my ups and downs I thought that people would be bored or at least, not interested. So thank you Julia and Derma for your kind words. I sometimes think I am doing no good at all on this site or at the very least ‘flogging a dead horse’. So I too get frustrated and depressed when people come on with newly diagnosed conditions, esp diabetes and ask for help then do nothing about it. Or they try to change the diet to suit their wants and desires, can I still eat lots of fruit, can I deduct calories from the exercise I do, can I have keto this, that or the other. In all honesty I want to say yes you can still have it all but you are going to kill yourself. But I don’t, I tippy toe around them and make simpler suggestions and do everything to encourange them to stay on plan even if they are not quite getting it. Some don’t and I lose them – that is how I feel, it is my loss, I have failed and someone is going to suffer the consequences.

Thanks to your kind comments I now realise that I have most likely helped more people than I actually know about. I didn’t know I inspire you Derma and Julia, you are one of the stoic ones who are always around. I could name lots more. I still want to come off the site and I don’t post for my own sake, I want to keep it going so when it goes quiet I jump in. I am sure people are saying, she has lost 3lbs or she has been for a swim, so what, but I am just trying to keep a thread alive.

Next time a diabetic comes on wanting help I will give them some news they need to hear from Dr Jason Fung who likes to say it how it is. So if you are newly diagnosed and think you can just take the meds or you have had diabetes for years and still don’t get it and eat the rubbish and rely on medications. Here is what he says – and this shocked me to the core.

He uses the analogy that our bodies are a sugar bowl and the more glucose (sugar, carbs, whatever) you add the bowl is going to fill up and up until it spills everywhere. In the case of diabetes it is spilling first into your fat cells causing weight gain, then it spills into your cells, your heart, brain, liver, kidneys. To solve the problem of excess sugar (glucose etc) you must get rid of it, not simply hide it where it can’t be seen. Next, imagine that sugar is bad food and you hide it under the sink, the kitchen might look clean but eventually it begins to smell really, really bad. You need to throw it out not hide it. Medications only hide it.

That said he goes on to say – and I quote.

“Get rid of the excess sugar. Don’t hide it away. Too much glucose in the blood is toxic, as is too much glucose in the body. If untreated, all that excess sugar in your body ROTS YOUR ORGANS. Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, infection, blindness, kidney disease, fatty liver disease, and so much more.”

The medication just hides the glucose in all of your organs, it doesn’t get rid of it. This diet eliminates the glucose from the body because you are not putting it in in the first place. Just stick to the bl—dyt diet if you want to stay well.

So there I go, boring everyone again but I am no longer going to pussy foot around diabetics if they don’t want to learn how to improve their lives and live longer. I will block and copy the Jason Fung advice for next time.

Thank you for caring.

SG your response was very emotional and I have just made my mascara run! Please don’t give up you keep me sane. My illness is not curable and so not great but I’m looking for positives to enthuse me – so keep at it girl!!

Never give up, keep on keeping on…

S-g WOW!
Powerful stuff.

I really don’t think people realise the implications for their whole body when they are diagnosed with T2. I think one of the reasons is because T2 has become endemic, commonplace almost. Yet on the other hand there has been so much research into low carb eating for controlling blood sugar you would think that more people would be accept that it’s the way to go.

I still blame the ‘established medics’ to a great extent. They don’t press home the idea of low carb but rather the need to lose weight. Yes great, lose weight but you have to control the carbs to control blood sugars. I’d never read Jason Fung’s analogy before but yes it is powerful.

S-g you have an amazing amount of patience and always pick up on ‘new’ diabetics. I think you do help lots of people or at least try to as not everyone is receptive. Quite often you can read into the first few posts of some that they are just not going to make it and will be happy to rely on the ‘pills’. There are some who will ‘pop a pill for any ill’ and those of us who take pills only as the ‘last resort’.

Julia as usual great insight. It’s good that you pop in with your wisdom now and again.

As for me, I stay here to remind myself that this really is a WOL and I just have to stay on the straight and narrow!

You are not going to believe this but there is a way to reverse T2 diabetes which was announced on Lorraine this morning by the resident doctor. It is a NHS initiative. You have 900 calories in liquid form for 12 weeks and voila, you are cured. Here it is:_

A “soups and shakes” diet trialled by the NHS can help diabetes patients go into remission, a new study has suggested.
Research conducted by the NHS has found a soup and shake diet alongside clinical monitoring can help people with type 2 diabetes.
Almost a third of participants, for whom there was data, put their type 2 diabetes in remission, according to a new paper published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

I guess we should be grateful that both the NHS and The Lancet are taking notice. :):):)

S-G

The quote from Dr Fung really does hit the spot!

As a ‘newbie’ who has no intention of taking meds except as a last resort, I really want you to know how inspirational and ‘helpful’ you have been to me personally.

I can understand your frustration with those who want a quick fix. We had a guest staying with us last weekend, who is also a recently diagnosed diabetic. His GP and Diabetes nurse are both ‘modern enough to have recommended the low carb diet and way of life (Unlike my diabetes nurse), and had told me so last week. So I assumed I would have a ‘kindred spirit’ who would eat as I am, cutting carbs etc! But NO! They brought lemon drizzle cake with them, and he proceeded to have 2 slices! He then wanted toast for breakfast and queried the lack of roast potatoes for Sunday lunch. When I talked to him about the BSD, he said yes he knew all that, but didn’t need to lose weight, so it didn’t apply to him. I tried to explain TOFI, but with no success! So even though I am very new to this site and my diabetes, I can see where you are coming from!

The conventional ‘diabetic diet’ (high carb, low fat) did nothing to drop my pre-diabetic Hb1Ac numbers in 2017 through to 2020. In fact they increased! I believe this WOL to be the way forward!

Having read the recent posts, I can completely understand the frustration of those working hard to use this way of eating to put their T2 into remission, when others turn a deaf ear to sound advice and refuse to make the necessary changes to protect their health.

I guess the old adage of “leading a horse to water” applies, but of course we have all – even those of us who came to the BSD primarily to lose the pounds – been victims of the high carb/low fat doctrination. It is tough to turn that on its head after years of brain washing, even with future health threats a strong possibility.

There will always be those that can’t take the new way of eating onboard and sadly they will fall by the wayside, but I hope this won’t deter us from offering the support and advice to newcomers as we always have done.

SG, your endless determination is an inspiration to so many and especially those battling T2, so I really hope you will find the strength to continue doing that, even though it must feel disheartening at times.

The forum has played a huge part in my journey to better health and weight loss and I hope others new to the BSD will also be able to benefit from it in future.

Hi all, I have no intention of leaving the site, just might be a bit more careful about jumping in to help. Or I might just go straight in with the truth about diabetes rather than pandering to them to keep them interested and not to frighten them too much. But honestly they should be afraid of what the future might hold for them. I will decide when I come across another person who says “I have been diagnosed pre or diabetic, can I still eat cake”. I will just say NO instead of telling them to just cut it down to start with. Yes that is a bit of an extreme example, but we have all seen the questions we get when we know there are really no half measures. Also, I don’t think coming here to lose a few pounds is any less serious. Both are life-limiting and may eventually become a threat.

I think the diet has a major fault in that it does sell itself as almost a miracle and makes some big promises and if you are going to stick to the plan strictly you will be one of the ones who loses 6lbs in week one or lowers their BG from 200 to 130. Like someone else said, some people are not willing to put in the effort and the diet in itself is blooming difficult.

For me right now I am day 3 of my new project. Weight is coming down petit a petit (little by little). No real exercise as I have had a jippy stomach and it has been back up to 36 degrees so by the time it is cool enough to swim I am needing food. Might jump in this evening. Did some arm exercises with weights and also a mindfullness session from my subscription to Fast800 emails. I will keep that to hand as it is only 3 minutes per day and everyone can find 3 minutes.

I think the UK is going to have some high temperatures this weekend – we are due to reach 42. Stay safe and drink plenty of water.

Well done S-G on carrying on & from my personal point of view I have valued your sensible constructive advice & always prefer to know the bottom line & current research.
I was also quite relieved to see you mention weight loss as a continuing reason to be welcome on this thread although of course this way of eating is primarily about educating Type 2 diabetics & my husband is one as was his father. As chief cook & bottle washer I am responsible for our catering with my main aim keeping my husband as healthy as possible & he has maintained his weight loss from us originally following this WOE since we first read Michael The Fast Diet & saw the tv programme which gave us hope of some control of his diabetes. I think this must be about ten years now?
We both fortunately like science & research so try to keep ourselves up to date & are pleased that the NHS seems to have finally caught up with low carb eating & all the research supporting this. I still have some weight to lose which seems to be getting harder as I am getting older but I will keep plodding on using all the recipes from all the MM cookery books that I have!
I don’t feel as though I have much to contribute to this thread apart from some approval that this WOE works & my cussed determination to keep to this way of eating with my ups & downs from social events?
Margaret xx

Hi all, great to hear you are doing well with your weight Margaret and also about your husbands diabetes. You can see this from both angles, medical and weight loss. My husband just has atrial fibrillation and has never really had a days illness, just feels and bit funny at times and cannot drink alcohol as it gives him palpations. Although AF can cause strokes etc. That said, he went to the doctor (a couple of years ago) who told him his cholesterol was getting high and combined with high triglycerides it was of concern. When hubby asked doc what he should do he just said ‘Ask your wife’. I never dictated but he watches what I eat and started making one slice of bread open sandwiches, cut his 4 cakes a week to 2, used to have 2 croissants on Friday and 2 on Saturday, cut that to just one on each of these days. Just little things. Next visit 3 months later all his blood were good again. We have both just been to the cardio for our annual check up and he doesn’t want to see us for 2 years. So we must be doing something right even though we are getting older.

Funny story about the cardio. We both go in together. One sits just by the door out of sight of the examination table while the other gets the business done. Stripped to the waist and laying on my left hand side with on a slightly sloping table, one hand behind my head. There is a full sized mirror in front which I normally avoid looking in. Now the cardio doesn’t seem to speak any English and I just glanced at myself and, being a big boobied lady I said to hubby ‘I look like a Botticelli’ – well the cardio burst out laughing.

Okay, thats all folks………

Except I had 30 mins swim this morning before it gets too hot. 26 degrees but heading for 36 later today.

Just listened to a really profound pod cast by Mel Robbins called Life is Short. It made me cry but also made me really think. Listen to it if you get the chance.

S-G your description of looking like a Botticelli made me laugh because I am the exact opposite being pear shaped & rather wishing my curves could move upwards from my legs & bottom 😂
I am pleased to say I have lost 2.75 lbs in the last three days which I’m sure is losing carb fluid since I have returned to low calorie, low carb/sugar eating. However this will be challenged again with more anniversary celebrations with us going up on Monday to London for two nights to stay on a super yacht hotel & be taken out to dinner by our sons 😀 so back to my usual routine again next Wednesday!
Keep on going everyone we can stick to this WOE & cope with social occasions by returning to it asap the moment we gain any weight. But I still feel we should enjoy celebratory occasions when they occasionally come along🍾🍹
Margaret xx

Hi all, good loss there Margaret, no matter if it is fluid, it all counts.

Not much news, still losing weight, still sticking to plan and another 30 min swim this morning. 36 degrees today so we are hunkered down with fans going. Enjoy the weekend.

Hi all. Still lurking! Thank you for the recommendation of Mel Robbins, s-g. I hadn’t heard of her before, so watched her last night on youtube in conversation with Steven Bartlett (Dragons Den) on his ceo podcast. It was a really interesting discussion , in part on behaviour-led living – essentially behaving like the person you want to be. Much less on motivation (“usually not there when you need it”!) and more on training your brain to *act* and not go through the sequence of emotion and risk-assessment (and thus a bias towards no change). Probably not the best of summaries, but I recommend a listen! I read something similar last year in that atomic habits best seller – behaviour focused and small changes.

I had been reflecting on what makes me successful in losing weight. I seem to have been on diets off and on for 50 years, starting when – actually – I wasn’t really overweight if the photos are to be believed. I have lost three stone three times. Twice with Weightwatchers and once with BSD – by far the better experience. Why did it work sometimes and not others? Why do my relaunches fail? I managed to stop a 30 a day cigarette habit over 30 years ago. So I have will-power. Carbs are more difficult – omnipresent, you need food to live so it’s not as on/off as smoking, and sugar is so damned addictive.

I had been thinking that it was all about a magic switch or mental shift between my ears, or maybe some self-loathing when I got really heavy. But I could end up waiting a long time for that to happen again, and in the meantime I am damaging my health when I can least afford to. So I am going to start behaving as the person I want to be. And keep at it even when I fail.,. I won’t be posting the daily/weekly ups and downs. But will continue to lurk. Wish me lots of resolve. And sorry for the long post.

Thanks S-g. x

Hi Heidi, glad you enjoyed Mel and found it helpful.

I have subscribed to her emails and just received one where she is tackling leaky bladder issues. Yes, I think a lot of us have that problem especially as we get older.

Some of her podcasts are quite deep but as she says, she keeps it freaking real. I received one yesterday with 5 different podcasts.
1. You Learn This Too Late – about us not still being the children we were led to believe we are and changing that critical voice thinking.
2. Life is Short – How to Spend it Wisely (made me cry as time is going so fast I cant even remember the last 10 years – when the hell did I reach 70).
3. How to Create a New Version of Yourself – Letting Go of Past Mistakes & Overcome Regret – think this is one I really need but need some real free time to listen.
4. 5 Rules of Money – How to be Smarter About it. Think I am already as smart as I can be at my age (too late to start earning) so this is last on my listening list.
5. The Secret of a Happy Relationship – simple habits to having a happy life and relationship with active listening.

Enough to keep me going for now. Oh and Yes, I do like the Diary of a CEO and his many subjects.

Funny isn’t it that when the scales go up it’s ‘fat’ but when they go down it’s ‘water’! I’m with you s-g it all counts!

Well, Mel Robbins … I’m wading through! Some are truly good but I’ve found a couple a bit on the long side and have started to lose track. Think I may have a go at some of the ‘shorts’. But overall yes, good, thanks s-g.

Just plodding along here, eating well and feeling good. I must admit that over the past year especially, we have chosen ‘better quality’ foods over ‘quantity’ which is great, but now supermarket own cheeses are a ‘no-no’ when compared with individual cheese makers offerings. Costs more but we eat less and savour the flavours!

The weather is brightening up here hope it’s good where you are too. Have a good weekend!

Hi all, another hot day. Please don’t be envious, it is totally debilitating. Because we have brunch around 11 am on Sunday, by the time we got round to eating it was way too hot to sit outside, even under our shady pergola. So it is certainly too hot to swim. Maybe if it cools down I might get a swim this evening but when it gets around 9pm I am just too tired. 42 degrees today and it is 29 right now in my little office. And we have another week forecast for the low 30’s. That will seem cool 🙂

Verano, I saw on your Positives post you would like someone else to try the 30 veg challenge. I am up for it. Lead me in the right direction. I looked at it before and can go back and find your related post but quicker if you just give me the link. I could start tomorrow. Its okay I have found your link.

My husband is so funny. He went to our local farm shop to get some eggs and he bumped into our neighbour just leaving, she had her arms full of melons and started telling him something. He doesn’t understand much French and came home with the story that Marie-Claude must think he is stupid and doesn’t know what a gala melon is. Next day I looked on line at our local farm shop selling gala melons for 3 for €1. They had an absolute glut of them. That was what she was trying to tell him. For 19 years I have been trying to get him to learn to speak French. Just 15 mins each day on Duolingo but he won’t do it.

Weight blipped up a smidge (0.1 kg) which I put down to noodles in our ramen meal last night. Another of hubbys ideas so he does as little cooking as possible, he bought them on offer from the supermarket ready made for the microwave. They were 72% good on Yuka, low salt, fat, calories etc, but heavy on the carbs at 55%. If I didn’t get weighed everyday I probably wouldn’t know about the increase.

I might watch the closing ceremony of the Jeux Olympique. I haven’t watched anything but heard the opening ceremony was a shambles. I don’t think a lot of the symbolism was understood by anyone not French. I had to have Geraldine Lepere explain it to me, especially the blue naked man.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, see you tomorrow.

S-g welcome aboard it will be good to have some company! The Zoe website gives you all the basics but I’ve just found a ‘list’

https://medium.com/nutrition-wow-words-of-wisdom/are-you-getting-your-30-each-week-dcd6e435089b

If you eat higher carb foods then it would be so much easier to make 30 a week. One thing I did learn today is that different ‘colour’ foods count separately ie. red or green peppers count as separate veggies! I don’t count spices but do add some herbs and garlic. I guess I should count pepper because I use a lot of that!

My week starts on a Saturday but I’ll be happy to start again tomorrow with you. So far in two days I’ve made 19 but now it gets difficult because I’m basically repeating what I’ve already eaten! Anyway, hope you enjoy the challenge. And of course if anybody else would like to join in great!

Hi Sg and Verano,
I will be interested in your 30-a-day adventure! From what I read, you can use coffee, herbs, spices, garlic etc as one of the veggies — and a tiny portion is ok (they had one slice of green onion as a garnish and it counted).
So Dr. Ben Bikman has a new podcast out in the last three days — “Understanding Anabolic Resistance — On Aging and Muscle Health”. I listened to the full 33 minutes and here is a quick summary in case you don’t want to watch the whole thing:
“Anabolic resistance” happens as we age (anabolic means to “build up” and catabolic means to “break down” — you need both metabolic processes to be healthy). The reason we develop anabolic resistance as we age is due to less efficient signalling by our body — it just doesn’t respond as efficiently to growth signals so we lose muscle mass. As we age we also exercise less, have lower hormones and eat less protein. We call that muscle loss “sarcopenia” and almost all of us here know this problem!
So muscles are your body’s “glucose sink”. They suck up excess glucose and are strongly predictive of longevity and health span.
I am sure you can guess where this goes — to combat anabolic resistance we need two things — high quality animal protein and resistance exercise. Dr. Bikman recommends 1.5 grams of protein per kg of body weight every day. Animal protein is best but fermented vegetable protein (tofu etc) is ok too. Add in resistance (using weights) exercise that you work until ‘failure” (that is fully fatigued, if you are using light weights, go as many reps as you need to failure).
And finally, there is research that says that eating protein just after exercise is helpful too (40 grams minimum!).

Also, a shout out to Lucia — how are you? I hope you are still doing well after last month’s great success. Let us know how you are!
Julia

Julia … hello and please do come and join us on this new adventure!

I just can’t count one sliver of green(spring) onion as a ‘plus’ ! I suppose really the whole notion of 30 a week is just to have as diversified a diet as possible. I do find that by day3 I’m repeating and repeating the same old! It has made me think and when I would always have walnuts with yogurt now I intersperse almonds.

I will definitely take a look at the new Ben Bikman podcast. I have great respect for him.

So here’s to tomorrow and a new week of 30-a-week. Please join us!

Julia, that sounds really interesting and for sure, I should be exercising more, so definitely food for thought … but of course I know action is what counts.
Verano, I took a look at the link you posted and have decided to give the 30 in a week challenge a try, but I’ll start Tuesday as I’ll be fasting tomorrow. Actually, as we go away for long weekend from Thursday, it may not work out too well, but will give it a go …. can always revisit it in a week or two if it doesn’t work out thus time.

Ok, I am in! I will try the 30-a-week challenge! See you in the vegetable aisle!
Julia

Sunny, I only made 25 in my first week and then 23 in the second. This last week was the first I made it to 30! It does take a conscious effort at first. Maybe just write down what you are eating normally this week to just give yourself a starting point to work from.

I’m restating my week today so let’s see how we all do!

Hello Verano is the thirty veggie challenge similar to the recommended ones in the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall book How to eat thirty plants a week that also has lots of recipes in it? I have bought that which was rather expensive from Amazon because he appeared on tv talking about it & it interested me.
I will have a go when I get back from London in a couple of days.
Margaret xx

Hi
It’s 12th only two days to go to my next target. I haven’t given up which makes me 😀
I have been counting my calories using carb manager
I have been increasing my water intake. Just good ole’ plain water nothing added , this is great when you just start to feel hungry
I eat between 2pm and 6pm it seems the best way for me and my body can process what food it has and hopefully burn off blubber and repair broken cells
I have been having a chicken breast (once you weigh the first one you know how many calories there are). I have been loading up on broccoli cauliflower sprouts. Or I load up on salad .
I have had a pork steak but it didn’t taste as nice as the chicken.
I did leave off the chicken/pork meat one day and had a plate full of veg followed by yoghurt and some blueberries it was a good change 😋
I have walked and moved more each day – I used to stay glued to the settee
I turn the telly off and start by walking around the garden or to the garden gate. Just getting clean fresh oxygen – no calories nor carbs in fresh air so just go crazy and grab bucket fulls!!!🤓
I haven’t weighed myself as I have now broken the bad habit of weighing every morning first thing and getting upset.
What I do now is, I pause and plan the activities in the day
Also another bad habit I have broken is , planning the meal . Don’t get me wrong, I now have sensible food in the fridge at my finger tips. It’s just that I was better than the count down at NASA to launch myself into food, it made eating the only thing constantly on my mind.
My mental state is much better. Once I got past the reality that only ME can look after ME. I relied on the doctors and nurses to fix me. I am only a number or a medical folder. They do their best within the guidelines and rules, I was told that I wouldn’t get medication reviewed until my blood test in 3 months even though the phone call was to discuss my recent blood test! 🤪
THREE MONTHS !!! It’s only taken me One month to turn my life around in here.
So , here I am looking at14 th just ahead of me.
It’s not easy, I wrestled with my mental state every hour of every day at the beginning.
I would set a target, then doubt myself, struggled BUT instead of sinking I focused on the next ten minutes, then the next ten minutes, then keeping my self busy and moving I got through another ten minutes. It seemed such a long time to just get myself together.
I read on here how people just switched and were able to change everything in a moment. I couldn’t, I had to do it in baby steps.
But now I am here I want to take 30 seconds of being so full of myself, so cocky , if I could do Michael Jackson’s moonwalk I would, but after the 30 seconds I know I have soooooo many temptations, so many hurdles , so I am hanging onto the wagon with both hands and have my feet jammed against the sides so I DONT fall off the wagon.
But
If I do fall I don’t start again next Monday – next month – next year. I put the ‘bad’ food down I cover it in salt or something so I don’t pick it up again. I go and clean my teeth , so I get out of the room and get a nice flavour in my mouth, then I go outside and get some oxygen and I am still on the wagon. That way I haven’t fallen totally off the wagon and into the gutter, I merely have let an arm or a leg dangle over the side of the wagon, grazing the road …….. so pulling it back in quickly before I topple out completely is the way to go.

My message isn’t about having 2 grams of this and 5 grams of that, and a sniff of that. That’s is for others to share with you. My message is about being at your lowest mental state, how to take control of just the next 5 minutes, walking into the garden or next room for exercise, doing something – anything to take your mind of food. Thinking of substituting a glass of water for fizzy sugary drink.
Finally , just to show you how crazy I can be…. I now look at a slice of bread or a potato or a bowl of white rice or cereals and imagine a spy has sneaked in and has started making a hole in the base and stuffing it with sugar cubes!!!!! I have a crazy picture in my mind It’s my way of remembering that Carbs = sugar cubes ( pure poison)
Yup I am one crazy lady !!! But a little healthier
Love Lucia xx

Margaret I just took a look on Amazon and yes it would seem to be the same. The basic principal is to have 30 plant based foods a week but each food only counts once no matter how many times a week you eat it. But on the other hand red, yellow and green peppers count as separate items as they have different polyphenols etc. I posted a link above to a basic list which includes coffee, pepper and dark chocolate so it’s not all spinach and sprouts!
Enjoy your weekend!

Lucia your ‘baby steps’ seem to be working well for you. You sound as though you’re really getting on top of your ‘demons’. Well done and as sunshine-girl says just keep on keeping on …….